


ShapeShift

by growlery, TheArcher



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Community: pod-together, Cover Art, M/M, Podfic, game developer!Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-28
Updated: 2012-07-28
Packaged: 2017-11-10 22:51:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/471586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/growlery/pseuds/growlery, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArcher/pseuds/TheArcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Stiles meets Danny his freshman year of college and is instantly smitten, but after Stiles has to save him from drowning, Danny is forced to move away. Seven years later, they meet again in New York and Stiles gets a second chance, only Danny doesn't remember him and Stiles' career is on the line.</p>
            </blockquote>





	ShapeShift

**Author's Note:**

> Written by TheArcher and read by quintenttsy.

  
  


[MP3](http://pod-together.parakaproductions.com/2012/TWoof-ShapeShift.mp3) / [M4B](http://pod-together.parakaproductions.com/2012/TWoof-ShapeShift%20by%20quintenttsy,%20TheArcher.m4b)

~

Stiles had thought college would be different.

People wouldn’t judge him by his looks but by his mind; his ability to remember details or write essays or research well. College was all about being smart, right? This is where the awkward and intelligent prevail!

WRONG.

The popular people were the same gorgeous, athletic divas they always were only now they had answers in class to go along with their cocky attitudes.

Except Danny that is. The moment Stiles laid eyes on Danny he knew the boy was different than the others, even if he wasn't not brave enough to say anything. Danny was just as beautiful and athletic as the rest but he was also playful and nice and tutored his friends and was really, really beautiful.

Stiles watched Danny as much as he could in a non-stalker way, but could never find a reason to approach him. Stiles had done a lot of embarrassing things in his lifetime but he couldn’t stand to imagine doing them in front of Danny. What if he laughed and broke the perfect illusion Stiles had built up in his head? No. Much better to watch from afar and pine, never noticed by the flawless creature.

One night Stiles was walking home from a bout of rigorous and scattered research at the library when he saw Danny laughing by with a group of friends. Stiles gave a small smile as the other boy stumbled into one of his friends, half empty bottom of rum in his hand, shouting, “Shortcut guys! I know I know I-I know I know one over here!”

He pointed to the small bridge over the on campus man-made lake.

One of the girls tried to scoff which turned into a stutter and tried to pull Danny in the opposite direction. “You’re gonna lead us in circles. Just come the normal way.”

“No guys! I’m serious!” Danny pushed her off and started running toward the bridge. He bent over the side and pointed. “Look! I can totally see my house! Come here!” The girls rolled their eyes and started toward him when he jumped up on the rail. “I can see it perfectly! Jump up here and see!”

The sound of the girls shouting “Get down!” was almost simultaneous with Danny slipping forward and falling into the lake.

They stood shocked still but Stiles rushed forward immediately, throwing off his backpack and diving in. It was a little clumsy as he still had his shoes on but he managed to pull Danny to the surface and drag him into the grass.

Danny was still for a moment and Stiles couldn’t breathe.

Danny’s friends quickly ran over and one shook Danny’s wet shoulder. He came to, choking and sputtering out water.

Stiles breathed a sigh a relief and suddenly his mind finally came back to him.

_'Danny. My Danny. Well, not MY Danny but THE Danny. The boy of my dreams who apparently gets really dumb when he’s drunk and he almost drowned but I saved him. I’m his savior now. Oh my god! He’s going to know who I am! He’s gonna love me now!'_

The boy who was currently the center of Stiles’ thoughts reached out lightly and placed a hand on Stiles’ arm. His eyes were half open and watery and couldn’t focus on anything as he let his hand and the rest of him fall back to the ground.

“Thanks,” One of the girls said to Stiles. “That was amazing but I think we should take it from here. He should be around people he knows, no offense.”

He nodded but she was already helping the other two lift Danny up.

_Okay,_ he thought. _That’s fine. He needs to calm down anyway. Drunk and traumatized and all that. Doesn’t need to be a love at first sight thing at all. That would be ridiculous… I’ll go see him tomorrow._

But he doesn’t see him.

He goes to see him, sure. And he stands outside his dorm room with a Get Well balloon and some kiddie floaties because that was funny right?

But he has to stop when he goes to knock because he hears voices inside.

Danny’s first with a “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

And another, deeper voice. “Your health and safety is no joke, young man. I’m serious. You are leaving this school and you are doing it immediately!”

“That’s going to mess everything up! I’m in the middle of the semester! You can’t just take me out because of one bad night! My classes-“

“I don’t care about your classes. Those friends of yours are a bad influence and this was the last straw! You’re going to get hurt if you stay here and I won’t allow it! I’ve already talked to the dean. You’ve officially withdrawn. We’re leaving as soon as you’re packed.”

A hand came up to lie on Stiles’ shoulder and he flipped around to see Danny’s friend from the previous night.

“Sorry to scare you. I guess you heard the same thing we all did.”

He shrugged and went to scratch his head, but was blocked by the floaties he was holding.

“Really?” she said. “Isn’t that a little in bad taste?”

“Wha- no! I mean, I thought it’d take the tension away from the situation, I didn’t-“

“Whatever. Just- thanks for what you did again but now’s really not the time.”

His face fell and he nodded. “Yeah you’re probably right.” Stiles handed her the balloon and sluggishly walked down the hallway, throwing the floaties at the wall.

_7 Years Later_

Stiles cleared his throat in front of the board of important executives that had somehow thought he would be able to competently navigate their office. He was going to present his new technology, a home based animation game, but he was doing all he could to keep from fidgeting and dropping the remote to the projector.

He cleared his throat.

“ShapeShift Animation is a revolutionary game I’ve been working on since college. It senses not only movement, but facial features so the avatars you use to play games at home are designed to look exactly like you. Not only can you use it to play the everyday games that come with your Wii, X-Box or Playstation but you can also make your own animated movies starring you and your friends. It has a wide assortment of voices and locations taken from real people and places all around the world, but if you want to use your own voice it makes it as easy as speaking into a microphone.” Stiles clicked through the powerpoint showing the different facets of the game, speaking slowly so he wouldn’t trip over his words. “Whether you just want to reenact something that happened around your neighborhood or make a short film about werewolves, ShapeShift makes it simple and easy for the whole family.”

The executives politely clapped as he finished his speech. The man at the head of table gave a small smile that was almost a grimace.

“Your technology is very impressive,” he said, “but I’m afraid we cannot consider investing in this as a similar game is being launched by another company on the east coast.”

Stiles blinked. “Wha-What? No. This is completely, one hundred percent original. I can guarantee there is nothing like this out there. I’ve been working on this for seven years! People can scan their pet ferrets and put them into this game!”

“I understand that Mr. Stilinski but I’m afraid we can’t take any risks at being associated with something controversial at this time.” He stood along with the rest of the group. “Thank you for presenting today. We wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.”

The men uniformly walked out of the room and Stiles felt his career slipping away when he called out, “Sir. Mr. Harris, please. Do you know the name of the company?”

The man barely turned around to say, “Snowball Productions” and left.

Stiles drove home slowly, unwilling to face his dad or himself. He used to feel embarrassed about living with his dad after college but who else would take care of him? He couldn’t leave his dad alone. They fell into an easy routine like when he was younger, only now, instead of school, Stiles worked at the library and his dad did more administration than field work at the police station.

When he walked in, his dad was at the kitchen table absentmindedly nibbling pasta while he looked over papers. He smiled when he noticed Stiles was back.

“Hey! How did your presentation go?”

Stiles threw his briefcase down and shrugged off his suit jacket. His dad’s smile faded.

“That bad?”

Stiles sat down across from him and started stealing noodles from his dad’s plate. “They said no. There’s apparently another company with the same idea. They didn’t want to ruin their reputation with controversy.”

“That’s ridiculous. There are tons of similar games nowadays. That’s regular competition. Like Rock Band and Guitar Hero.”

“Well I guess they didn’t trust a twenty something nobody to have something worthwhile and not steal it.”

“Steal it?” The man stopped eating entirely. “They thought you were copying someone?”

Stiles shrugged.

“Son, I don’t know too much about computers or software but I know that you have created the future with your game and you did it by yourself. You’ve never backed down and there’s no reason to doubt yourself. If you don’t want to stir the waters, that’s fine, but I say you find that company and show them that whatever hack they hired has nothing on what you’ve made.”

“Dad,” Stiles sighed. “It’s on the east coast. I’m not going to leave you here so I can fly across the country and play ‘anything you can do I can do better’ with some probably legitimate well-known game developer.”

“And why not?”

“Because! Because I… I won’t win. I’m not good enough.”

“Now you listen here Stiles. You are great at what you do and I have no doubt that if you go there and show them what you have, there’s very little chance that they’ll say no. But if you stay here, with me, where it’s safe and never try, that chance is one hundred percent. You can’t let the possibility of not getting what you want make it a certainty. It’s like when you were in college and you had that crush on that guy.”

“Dad! Don’t bring Danny into this.”

“Danny! Right! You would talk about him for days and you never said two words to each other. You know why? Because you were scared.”

Stiles let his head fall to the table with embarrassment.

They were silent for a moment before the sheriff continued.

“I know that ever since your mom died, it may seem like nothing is stable. I understand that, really. If you choose to stay here and take care of your old man and forget about this whole mess I’ll still love you like I always have. I’ll never stop being proud of you. But if you go and stand up for what you’ve created, you will be proud of yourself.”

With that, he stood up and put his plate in the sink. As he walked out of the kitchen, Stiles voice stopped him.

“Hey Dad? Can I borrow some money for a plane ticket?”

-

New York was huge and the taxis were scary and Stiles isn’t entirely sure how he got from the airport to his hotel room in one piece but he did. He started looking through his things to find where he had scribbled the address when out of the corner of his eye he could’ve sworn he saw a familiar face. Stiles popped up to the window to see the back of a man getting into a sleek black limo. He rubbed his hands over his face and called his dad.

“Hey do you know the number to the airline? I’m gonna need to reschedule my ticket for right now because I cannot survive in New York.”

“Calm down Stiles. You’ll be fine. So it’s a little bigger than you’re used to. They call it the Big Apple for a reason.”

“No dad I am seriously concerned for my health. My taxi driver almost ran over a biker and just now I could’ve sworn I saw Danny!”

“Danny? Well we were just talking about him the other night. He’s on your mind.”

“He’s always on my mind.”

“There are thousands of people in the city. Of course some of them are going to remind you of people you know. But you’re not there to be social. You’re there to defend your product right?”

Stiles sighed. “Yeah I guess.”

“Then that’s what you need to focus on. Now don’t call me again. I’m about to go into the station. Just believe in yourself and get it done.”

The sheriff hung up and Stiles decided it was time to put on his big boy pants. If he was going to do this, he had to carry himself like he was worth something.

He apparently didn’t do that good a job at that, seeing as the moment he walked up to the receptionist desk he was pounced on by a ferocious looking redhead.

“You! You look like one of those computer types. Are you the guy we scheduled for an interview?”

“Me? Uh I…” Stiles didn’t know what was happening so he didn’t have time to process that the proper response was a simple "no".

“We set up that interview for half an hour ago! Normally we wouldn’t even consider hiring someone who does things like that but half of the computers on the second floor are malfunctioning and we need someone now. If you can fix ten computers in two hours you’re hired.”

Though the woman was shorter it still seemed as if she was looking down at him and Stiles was inclined to just agree with whatever she was saying.

“Yeah I could fix computers.”

“Good.” She grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the closest elevator and Stiles tried to breathe. This was so not what he had come here for.

-

Danny was surprised at how thorough the game was, but not as surprised as he was to see the man presenting it. Jackson Whittemore was not what comes to mind when you think "game developer" or “software programmer.” He was more the “male model” type, or “famous basketball player” or “greek god” if you asked Danny. Then again Danny had only recently been promoted to CEO so it’s not as if he had many one-on-one interactions with computer nerds since college.

However, Danny wasn’t one to let his personal feelings get in the way of business and right now he was negotiating the price of the game. He had a feeling this Whittemore would very well be asking for god-like payment and he had to let him know who was in charge here.

“That offer you have in front of you Mr. Whittemore is already more than we’ve ever given any of our clients.”

“I understand that.” Jackson said. “And I appreciate that you know that I’m worth more than the average client, but it still doesn’t seem like enough to me. I think this game is worth double.”

Danny’s eyebrows shot up and he looked over at his right hand Allison. She gave him a look that told him she didn’t believe it either.

“This game,” Jackson continued, “has been my life for many years. I’m not going to give it away for less than it’s worth.”

“Of course.” Danny said. “So how about we give that offer a fifty percent increase?”

The blonde man leaned forward on the table, happy for the challenge. “How about eighty?”

“Sixty-five.”

“Seventy five and a date.”

Danny couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“This is not the time for that Mr. Whittemore.”

“I just thought we were putting everything on the table.” He smirked. “And call me Jackson.”

Danny smiled back. “Seventy five and all the components of your software are given directly to the company, to be stored on our secure server.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

“Then do we have a deal?”

“It looks like we do.”

Danny stood and the rest of the table followed. “Then congratulations to everyone on completing such an important transaction.”

Allison and Jackson exchanged a quick handshake before the man turned to Danny and offered his hand.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Mahealani.”

“And with you, Jackson.”

-

The computers at Snowball were top of the line and all new. Stiles had to stop himself from drooling long enough to figure out what was wrong. Luckily it seemed like most of the computers all had the same problem so he could hop quickly from one blank office to the next.

Until he got to one that wasn’t so blank.

It was larger than the others and had plush chairs in front of the long black desk. Clearly this office belonged to someone important. Stiles plopped down on the large chair in front of the computer and his hands immediately started going through the motions when he realized it was working fine.

The door opened to reveal six feet of tan skin and Stiles’ mouth dropped open at the sight. It was Danny.

“Who are you?” Danny said without preamble.

“I… I mean I am… I do the… I’m fixing computers.”

“My computer doesn’t need fixing.” Danny walked into the room and shrugged off his suit jacket and, wow, Stiles had barely even noticed he was wearing a suit but now the sight of him taking it off was going to stay with him forever.

“I know. I was just noticing that now. I’m surprised seeing as most of the others on this hall all had variations of the same thing.”

“I fixed it.” Danny was looking Stiles over and he could barely breathe with those eyes on him. Did he recognize him?

“Wait,” Stiles said. “You fixed it yourself?”

“I run this company. I can fix my own computer. Now are you going to leave or would you prefer to talk down to me some more?”

“No! That’s not what I meant it’s just—“ Stiles couldn’t say he remembered Danny struggling in their computer science class freshman year; couldn’t say he watched him every day wishing he could be brave enough to offer a helping hand; couldn’t say how unbelievably happy he was to see Danny had caught on by himself and was on the top of the class after midterms. “I just don’t see a lot of businessmen willing to clean things up themselves that’s all.”

“I’m not your average businessman.” Danny gave an almost-smirk and nudged his head toward the door. “You can leave now.”

“Right. Sorry!” Stiles scrambled to get out of the chair. “Sorry again I didn’t mean- I don’t- Bye!”

He gave a weak wave and bolted out of the room, mind going a thousand miles an hour. Danny. Danny was here. In New York. Danny was apparently CEO. Danny seemingly didn’t recognize him which, of course, isn’t that surprising seeing as they only had one class together in the short not quite year they’d gone to school together. Danny… _Danny._

“Danny!” Stiles shouted over the phone to his father. “Danny is the CEO of the company that you sent me down here to, to, I don’t know _woo_ with my mind blowing programmer skills!”

“Slow down Stiles. I’ve got no idea what you’re saying. Who are you yelling about?”

“Danny, dad! Daniel Mahealani! Born August 29, 1989 and current head honcho at Snowball Productions.”

“Well that’s great kid.”

“No it is not great. It is the complete opposite of great. It is disastrous. I can’t present my game in front of him. I’ll choke! I’ll spit! I’ll die from embarrassment cause he makes me feel like a teenager all over again.”

“To be fair, not much has changed.” Stiles’ dad chuckled over the phone.

“Oh ha ha. It’s so funny when you’re not the one going to be humiliated in front of the love of your life.”

Stiles sighed and leaned against the wall, letting his head drop back.

“Where are you? There’s an echo.”

“In the restroom of the building.”

“Waiting for your appointment?”

“Huh?”

“You did set up an appointment before your freak out, didn’t you?”

“Well I meant to…”

“How did you know Danny was in charge if you didn’t make an appointment to see him?”

“Uhh…”

“Stiles.” His dad was using his take charge voice. It almost sounded scarier over the phone.

“I might have gotten… well I was _coerced_ into fixing computers around the company.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t my fault! There’s this little redhead here and she wouldn’t let me get a word in and she looked as if I didn’t fix everything immediately she’d skin me with her extremely pointy heels.”

“Son, you have got to stop doing this. You went there to take control of your life, remember? Not be pushed around by some redhead in heels.”

Stiles sighed. “I know. But I just-“

“No ‘but you just’. You march up to that girl and tell her why you’re really there.”

“Okay.”

“Are you just saying okay or are you actually going to do it?”

“I’m actually going to do it.”

Stiles didn’t actually do it.

He tried. Really, he did. He marched up to the redhead, who had said her name was Lydia, tall and confident… well, tall, and he told her he wasn’t the one who set up an interview for today. She shrugged it off and said it didn’t matter if he came from Paris or off the streets, they needed someone and he was good. He told her that’s not what he was here for but she wouldn’t let him.

“Come in tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. Don’t be late. We’ll get all the paperwork and things out of the way and you can work on fixing some of the older models. _Don’t be late_.”

There wasn’t much Stiles could do but nod along. And find any reason to wander to Danny’s floor to catch of glimpse of him.

He was just as handsome and charming as ever. Talking to the secretaries as if they were equal and giving smiles to the janitors. God, he was perfect.

After Stiles had finished with his work he couldn’t help but slip into Danny’s office.

“Hey, any computer trouble happening here?”

The man looked up from his computer.

“No, I told you yesterday.”

“Yeah but, I just, I had this list of offices I was supposed to check to make sure everything was going fine and this office was here so I thought I’d just double check to see if anything might have popped up overnight.”

“Everything's fine, thanks.”

“Okay then…” Stiles rocked on his heels, loitering in the doorway.

“Is there something else you need?” Danny said, exasperated.

“Well now that you mention it.” Stiles quickly dropped into a seat in front of the desk. “I actually know more about computers than just how to make them run. I’m actually really interested in software and computer code and-“

“Oh god who told you?”

Stiles blinked at Danny’s deer in the deadlights expression.

“Was it Allison? I knew I never should’ve tried working on it in the office but-“

“Wait what are you talking about?”

“I have a Mac at home and the office is all on Windows and I’m trying to figure out a way that I can have both of them on my computer so I don’t get so shell-shocked going from one to the other and it is not working and I feel like I’m just making things worse.” He let his head fall into his hands and heaved a long sigh. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to ramble. It’s not like Allison didn’t tell you all this anyway.”

“Well I mean, not in so many words.” Stiles reached out to touch Danny’s shoulder but snapped his hand back when the man looked up.

“I’m sorry. I never talk like that it’s just… normally I can pick things up pretty quickly but with this I am completely in the dark.”

“I could look at it, if you want. See if I can help?”

Danny gave a small smile and Stiles melted. “Really?”

“Of course.” Stiles tried to not sound as enamored as he felt. “Anything.” It wasn’t really working.

Danny glanced at his computer and his smile dropped.

“Sorry. I have a meeting to go to. Finances, marketing, all those boring things, but thanks for the offer.”

“Oh it’s no problem.” Stiles stood up with him. “I could come back some other time. Any time. Tomorrow maybe?”

Danny raised an eyebrow at his enthusiasm but he didn’t seem put off.

“Sure,” he smirked. “How about we do lunch tomorrow?”

“Yes! Lunch would be great.” Stiles smile was splitting his face but he didn’t even try to contain it as he followed Danny out of his office.

“By the way,” Danny turned around to close the door and got terrifyingly close. “What’s your name?”

Stiles froze; breathing in Danny’s perfect smelling aftershave as the door clicked behind him. The other man backed up and waited for his answer.

“Stiles. I’m Stiles.”

“Nice to meet you Stiles.” He put his hand forward to shake. “My name’s Danny.”

-

“Daaaaaaad he’s amazing!” Stiles thought maybe normal people would call friends their own age to gush over boys but then he’d have to catch them up on the crazy situation he put himself in and he didn’t feel like explaining. He felt like singing or dancing or floating away on a cloud.

“Please,” his dad said. “Please tell me you didn’t spend your entire meeting flirting.”

“He’s just such a down to earth guy you know?” Stiles rolled around on his hotel bed. “Even though he’s in charge of this huge company that is also in charge of smaller companies so they have tons of games under different names. Did you know that? Snowball is in charge of like three different brands and they’re all named after weather like Hail and Waterspout. Well I guess Waterspout isn’t so much _weather_ as…”

“Are you ignoring my question?”

“I didn’t even hear a word you said pops. I’m too busy imagining how perfect tomorrow will go. God, what am I going to wear?”

“So you have another meeting tomorrow?”

“Oh, well today wasn’t really a meeting so much as a... MEETING as in us meeting each other. I just caught him before he had to leave the office and he was so polite and just being in his space makes everything better and he has this fantastic aftershave-“

“Please don’t make me consider what you were doing to get close enough to smell him. Now come on, focus. You need to plan what you’re going to say. Like you said, he’s a powerful man and you need to get him on your side.”

“Oh I _definitely_ want him on my side. Either side. _Both_ sides.”

“Goodbye Stiles.”

Stiles sighed and rolled over again, falling off of his bed.

“What am I going to wear?” He mumbled into the carpet.

Stiles work uniform was an unflattering blue jumpsuit, the same one the janitors and window cleaners wore because apparently that’s how low in the company he was, and it was at least a size and a half too big on him. It wasn’t the most comfortable of outfits but that meant he could wear his red button down and nice jeans without anyone noticing him and calling him out on it.

Luckily he couldn’t think too much about his lunch date (“lunch meeting really, like an appointment”) because every time he slowed down on his work Lydia would find him and shoot him with a gaze that spoke volumes and each volume was filled with torture.

Unfortunately that also meant he didn’t notice when lunchtime came around.

Stiles jumped at the knock on the door and looked up to see Danny leaning against the frame of the door.

“Ready?”

Stiles gaped at the six feet of handsome smiling at him.

“Yeah. Totally.” Stiles rolled his chair back and unzipped his jumpsuit. If only he had one of those rip off suits. That’d make an impression. Instead he gets stuck trying to slip it off his shoes.

“I really should’ve seen this coming.” Stiles said, hopping on one foot while pulling the leg of his suit off the other.

Danny chuckled. “You’re quite the character Stiles.”

“Oh I really am.” Stiles mumbled, finally free of the uniform. “Anyway, we’re wasting daylight! Let’s lunch.”

Danny nods at the door in an ‘after you’ gesture and Stiles leaves, trying not to trip over his own anxiety.

-

Stiles was an odd guy but he seemed to know what he was talking about when it came to computers and if Allison thought he was good enough to help, Danny would trust him.

After they ordered their food Stiles talked about a lot of things, some of which were out of Danny’s limited understanding, and he talked excitedly. If nothing else, he was very enthusiastic about it.

Just as their plates came around Danny’s phone went off and he looked to see it was Jackson.

“Sorry. Business call.” He said and answered. “Hello?”

“Hi there Danny. I can call you Danny now, right?”

“Yes I suppose you can, Jackson.” Stiles’ eyes popped up and he titled his head in confusion. Danny mouthed the word _client_ before continuing the conversation. “I’m hoping this call is to tell me you will be handing over MetaMorph today.”

“I’m afraid that’s a no. You see I didn’t plan on making a sale this quick so I didn’t bring the original files with me. I’m a bit paranoid that way.”

“We’re paranoid too Jackson. That’s why we want to make sure everything is under our security.”

“I completely understand. I’m having it sent to me as we speak. It shouldn’t take more than a couple days.”

“Great. Anything else you need?”

“Actually,” Danny could almost hear Jackson's change of demeanor. “I was calling to see if you’d be free for dinner tonight.”

Danny chuckled and Stiles continued looking at him interestedly. Maybe he should’ve taken the call outside. Danny gave him an apologetic smile.

“I’m afraid not. Actually… I have plans with a friend.” Stiles’ eyes widened and he pointed towards himself in inquiry. Danny nodded. “We can talk about a raincheck after MetaMorph gets here.”

“It’s always about business with you isn’t it?” Jackson teased.

“Well you are my client. And speaking of, I’m on my way to a business lunch so I have to go. We’ll talk later.”

“We certainly will.” Jackson replied smoothly and hung up.

“Sorry about that.” Danny said, returning his phone to his pocket. “I’m always on call. Got to make sure the clients get what they want and so do we.”

“Of course.” Stiles said, playing with is food.

“We don’t have to do anything tonight if you don’t want to I just-“

“No that’d be great! I don’t go out a lot so it’d be a nice change.”

“Oh, that’s great. It’s just this client has been flirting with me and-“

“You don’t know how to tell him you’re not interesting without risking losing his business. I get it.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “No? I mean, it’s not that I’m not interested so much as he’s my client. I try my best to never mix business and pleasure. It’d be like dating someone around the office and it would just make things difficult, you know?”

Stiles scoffed around his food. “Not really but I guess you’d know more about dating than I would.”

“I’m sorry, was that an insult or a compliment?”

“It was a compliment said in an insulting tone but I apologize. I’m kind of eternally single so I can be a little bitter about that.”

“Don’t take it so hard. Everyone has rough patches in the dating scene.”

Stiles sulkily stuffed more food in his mouth. “My entire life has been a rough patch.”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be if you didn’t talk with your mouth full.”

Stiles blushed and started to wipe his mouth with his sleeve before he realized he wasn’t alone and grabbing a napkin.

“Anyway, about your software…”

“No, no, don’t change the subject now. How about I give you some help this time?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m free tonight. I’ll take you somewhere you can meet tons of people and get through your rough patch.”

Stiles laughs. “Yeah right. Like anyone’s going to be looking at me with you there.”

“Another insulting compliment?”

“I can’t help it. It’s my special skill. I have it on my resume next to scathing sarcasm and an insatiable hunger for curly fries.”

“I’ll dress down if you dress up. You’re teaching me about software. It’s only polite that I teach you what I know about… sorry, what are you interested in again?”

Stiles coughed uncomfortably into his napkin. “Guys, mostly.”

“Good.” Danny smirked. “That’s under my special skills.”

-

Stiles did not pack clothes to go on a date.

Not that this was a date. It was anything but. Danny was trying to _set him up._ As if Stiles could look at any other guy and not compare them to Danny.

So when he arrived at the address Danny had given him, Stiles was in the same clothes as earlier. It might not have been the best thing for a date, but this wasn’t a date. Stiles didn’t get dates, at all, ever, as he was becoming painfully aware of.

Danny was waiting for him outside of a comedy club, with a tight shirt and a messenger bag hanging casually off him, looking like sex on legs.

“I thought you said you would dress down!”

Danny looked down at himself. “I am dressed down. I’m in a t-shirt.”

“Yeah a t-shirt that shows off your bulging muscles.”

He gaped. “My muscles do not bulge!”

“They do when they’re straining against the tightness of your shirt.”

“God, I’m sorry I wear things that actually fit. I didn’t bring a baggy jumpsuit in case you felt insecure.”

“You should’ve! Have you seen me?”

“I have and I don’t know what you’re worrying about. You look fine. Besides, this is a comedy club. People here aren’t going to be judging you by your looks. They want someone fun to talk to.”

“Yeah, and it’s not hard to find people who want to talk to you when you look like you do.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Would you feel better if I put on glasses?”

“You have glasses?”

Danny reached into his bag and pulled out a glasses case. “I keep them in case my contacts dry out.” He slipped the simple black frames on and Stiles’ mouth dropped open.

“Wow.”

“Better?”

“I can’t believe it’s possible. You look even more attractive with those dorky glasses on.”

Danny laughed and pushed him. “Come on, you’re going to make us miss the open mic.”

-

The club was one of Danny’s favorites. Entrance was free and the bar wasn’t terribly over priced and the comedians mingled with the crowd before sets. Of course, Stiles was right and anyone interested in men kept their eyes solidly glued to Danny. Danny himself however was almost stuck to Stiles’ side.

There was something about the guy. He just radiated fun. His laugh burst out of him as if he was always surprised at how funny things could be. There was a time to mingle and chat after the main shows and though everyone looked at Danny for physical appeal, it was Stiles who made them smile. No one could resist his charm.

After the club closed, they continued talking while walking around the area. Danny wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to talk about work but his life hadn’t been much else since he was promoted. He talked about how he had been the head of Public Relations on the other side of town when he applied to this job on a whim. He didn’t expect to get it but the interview went really well and the next thing he knew he was accepted and had to move.

Danny turned to tell him about his ridiculous first meeting with Lydia when he realized the man wasn’t next to him and had dropped off a couple stores down.

“Hey.” He said, wandering back. “You stopped.”

“Huh?” Stiles broke his dazed gaze from the window. “Sorry. It’s just,” his eyes slid back, “there’s a new model and I didn’t know it was out and computers are just really stunning to me. I only truly love three things and that’s computers and my dad. Anything else is secondary.” Stiles looked over at Danny to see the shocked look on his face. He stepped back from the window and started nervously scratching his head. “Sorry. That was really crazy wasn’t it? I bet you’re wondering what kind of nutjob technophile you’ve been hanging out with.”

“No,” Danny said, taking him arm and putting it to his side. “Calm down. I was actually just wondering what the other love was.”

“Huh?”

“You said you loved three things. Your dad, computers, and…?”

“Oh. It’s uh, curly fries. Those things are like ten times better than straight fries. I don’t know what it is about them. Maybe the curly potatoes they’re made from have something to do with it.”

Danny raised an eyebrow, unconvinced, but he didn’t push it.

“We should probably head home. Long day tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday though?” Stiles said.

“I’m the CEO of a major company. I don’t get Saturdays.” Danny smiled and hailed a cab. “I’ll see you Monday Stiles.”

And he did.

Stiles burst into his office with “Beginning Programming for Dummies” in hand and a smile on his face. Danny tried to tell him that he was busy and the door was closed for a reason and though Stiles nodded and apologized he did the same thing the next day. Somehow, Danny couldn’t find it in him to be upset.

-

Stiles was walking on sunshine. He knew it was a little cliché and it’s nothing that there haven’t been thousands of songs about, but it didn't make the experience any less amazing. Didn’t make the world seem any less bright when Danny walked in the room, or rather when Stiles let himself into Danny’s office.

He knew he shouldn’t, Danny was an important CEO and he often caught him on calls and Danny never tried to hide his exasperated eye rolls but he also never kicked him out and for Stiles that was practically permission.

However it was getting increasingly difficult to sneak away when Lydia realized after a while that his time for office check-ups was mostly spent with Danny. Stiles tried not to worry (he had a masters degree, he could do this in his sleep) but Lydia was scary in multiple ways.

Not least of which was figuring out when Stiles would sneak away, despite him never going at the same time twice.

She caught him on his way to Danny’s one day with a smile on her face.

“He’s not even there,” she said.

“Who? What are you talking about? I was just looking for my keys.” Stiles lied awkwardly.

“Uh huh. Well turn around and maybe you’ll find your keys on the third floor, where our graphics designers are, and figure out why the tablets aren’t working. That seems a bit more crucial than your keys, don’t you think?”

“I suppose when you put it that way-“

“Move it!”

Stiles turned around and made way for the elevator when something caught his eye.

“Hey Lydia?” He asked looking down a small hallway. “What’s that?”

“That leads to our secure server, where all our important files are stored. Why aren’t you going?”

“Why didn’t I see that? Aren’t I in charge of all the technology in the building?”

“One, we have a specialist who is in charge of that as only the highest level people in our company are allowed access. And two, you are definitely not in charge of all technology in the building and if you don’t move quickly, you won’t be in charge of any of it!”

Stiles flinched and Lydia’s raised voice and frantically hit the elevator button, slipping in quickly before Lydia could pull him back out and swallow him whole.

Incidentally, he did end up forgetting his keys. At least he got to meet the night guard, Boyd, when he returned after work to get them. Boyd was pretty cool and understanding the first couple of times but after the third (which ironically happened the same day as the second because he forgot them while talking to Boyd) Stiles had to hold up a container of Reese’s to the window to even get let in.

Everything was going great. Danny’s project was moving swiftly and they hung out more often and though Stiles had to lie to his dad about how the negotiations were going, Stiles was optimistic. Danny hadn’t mentioned anything about a new game anyway. The old deal probably fell through and Stiles had plenty of time to pitch his game to Danny. Everything was going great.

-

Danny thought things were going pretty well. He was always friendly to everyone in the office and they seemed to like him well enough but no one other than Allison no one had really ever tried to approach him as anything other than their boss. He understood it but it was nice to know that Stiles saw him as an equal, a friend.

Danny had never been insecure but with Stiles’ teachings, his confidence was through the roof. He was making huge progress and every day there was something new to add.

It also didn’t hurt that he’d finally agreed to dinner with Jackson, a celebratory dinner for the game of course, and he was kind of ridiculously charming. He never looked away from Danny and took every opportunity to compliment him on his looks or his business knowledge. It made him a little embarrassed and he slipped out a few Stiles-worthy bad jokes.

Danny hadn’t told Stiles about it, of course, because he didn’t want him to feel as if Danny was bragging after Stiles told him he’d never had a boyfriend. Besides, it’s not like anything would really happen until MetaMorph was released. Danny wasn’t about to be emotionally compromised

On his way to meet Jackson, who had finally gotten the original files and was ready to hand them over, he bumped into Stiles outside his office.

“I actually have to go meet a client right now,” Danny said closing the door quickly, “but I will need to see you later. I think I must’ve put in something wrong in the code because now when I start up my laptop it asks for a password. It’s never done that before.”

“Oh that should be fine. If anything’s changed in the start-up you’ll be able to bypass it once you get familiar with everything and learn the ins and outs.”

“Thanks. You know, you’re really good at this. You should think about doing this for a living. Pays a lot better than IT work.”

Stiles gave an uncomfortable chuckle. Did Danny embarrass him? “Yeah I really should.”

Just then he noticed Allison coming around the corner, Jackson in tow.

“There’s the client now. I’ll see you later.”

Danny strode over and shook Jackson’s hand.

“Welcome back. We’ve been waiting. Don’t want anything to get lost the week before announcing this to the world.”

“Sorry about that.” Jackson said, though his smile didn’t seem apologetic in the slightest. “There’s been a lot going on back home. My first major sale? Everyone’s excited.”

“Well you’re here now and we can get MetaMorph under the proper security.

-

“It’s Jackson! Jackson stole my game!” Stiles yelled panicked into the phone.

“Stiles slow down. What are you talking about? Jackson doesn’t even live here anymore.”

“Not usually no but he came down for Christmas right after I finished the game. He came into the library and started talking about how we shouldn’t let old high school clichés stop us from being friends so I showed him my game and I thought he left so I went to the bathroom and he stole my fucking game.”

“How can you be sure it’s him?”

“Oh I don’t know dad. Maybe because I just saw him at work, talking about finalizing a game deal and handing over files for something called MetaMorph and _flirting with Danny_. I didn’t even know Jackson liked guys!”

“Wait, wait, stop. Work? I thought you cleared everything up?”

“Yeah okay I exaggerated on how well things were going. I’m sorry I lied, but can we focus on the fact that somehow Jackson Whittemore has conned people into thinking he knows anything about making videogames and has done so with mine?”

“As far as I’m concerned, this doesn’t change anything. If you’d just done what you needed to in the first place this would all be settled so just go and tell them it’s your game.”

“Oh yeah that’ll sound great. ‘Just FYI I know I seem like some young sap fixing computers but I actually forgot to mention I have a degree in computer science and developed this extremely complicated gaming software that you believe was actually made by the biggest jerk in America, trust me’.”

“If you don’t think they’ll believe you then you need to find proof. Bitching to me over the phone isn’t going to save your game. You are. Listen to me for once in your life. I know you’re smart enough to figure this out. Take back your game.”

Stiles sighed. “I’ll call you later dad.”

-

Stiles wasn’t the best at confrontation, while Jackson had always seemed to win a gold medal. Still, Stiles felt like he should at least try to reason with him before doing what he really didn’t want to do.

He found him at a coffee shop down the street from work.

Stiles stopped in front of the table and waited for Jackson to look up from the paper he was reading.

“What do y…” Jackson stopped when he saw who was there. “Stiles?”

“Hey there Jackson.”

The man let out an easy smile.

“Fancy seeing you here. What are you doing all the way in New York? Sit, please.”

Stiles sat slowly and didn’t smile back.

“I didn’t come here to chat, Jackson. I know you stole my game.”

Jackson’s smile didn’t waver. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about. You came here to cash in on my work. Now I’m here to politely ask for it back.”

Jackson took a long drink from his coffee mug. “I’m sorry, so rude of me. Would you like a coffee? I’ll pay. I know you’re still living with your dad. Kind of sad, don’t you think? You see, that’s the difference between you and me Stiles. You think things, create things, but you never have the push to really get them anywhere. But with me, I always make sure my things are made as big as they possibly can be. I’m the kind of person who takes New York by storm. You’re the kind of person to stay in Beacon Hills.”

“Well I’m not there now, am I?”

“No,” Jackson nodded slowly. “No you are not. And I admire that. You’ve taken a step out of your comfort zone. So I’ll reward you for that.” Jackson reached in his back pocket and took out a checkbook. “I’ll write you a check for $50,000. That is way more than you would have ever made alone. Here you go.”

He slid the check across the table.

“So now,” Jackson’s fake smile melted off his face, “you’re going to take that check, and you’re going to go home and continue to live there forever, as the same sad loser you were in high school.”

Stiles looked at the check and nodded.

“You’re right. I was a loser in high school. I was a loser in college too. Because I let what people like you think affect me way more than it had any right to. I never stood up for myself and I never left my comfort zone. But I’m not that loser anymore. And you’re not the big man on campus. You’re a thief.”

“Thief? That’s a pretty dangerous allegation you got there. Any proof to back it up?” Stiles stayed silent, eyes never leaving Jackson’s. “Just take the check Stiles. Because that is all you can hope to get from this.”

Stiles grabs the check and looks over it. “You know Jackson, I may not have your looks or charisma, but I do have my mind. And that is worth a lot more than this piece of paper.”

He stood up and dropped the check into Jackson’s cup of coffee. As he turned around and left he heard Jackson call out “Good luck Stilinski! You’ll need it!”

-

Danny was in his office talking with Allison about the upcoming MetaMorph press release when a soft knock came at the door.

“Come in.”

Stiles peaked his head in. “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Of course. I think that’s the first time you’ve knocked before coming in. Allison, you know Stiles.”

Allison looked up from their plans at the tall man.

“No I don’t actually.”

“Of course you do.”

“Danny.” Stiles interrupted. “It’s really important that I talk to you right now.

“One second. Allison, remember you told him about what I was trying to do with my computer?”

“I’ve never seen this guy before. Why would I tell him about you?”

Danny looked up at Stiles in confusion. “Then how did you know I was working on software?”

“I didn’t. I was trying to talk to you about something else. Something I wanted to explain right now actually.

“Then explain.”

Stiles glanced over at Allison. “Can we-“

“No.” Danny interrupted. “Explain in front of Allison. This time I want to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Stiles sighed and was about to speak when the door opened again and Lydia walked in looking at a clipboard.

“Danny, have you seen- Oh there you are Stiles. The mailing address you gave me is in California. I need your resident address here or else-“

“Whoa, party back here?” A voice behind Lydia said. Stiles groaned and the rest of the heads in the office turned to see Jackson Whittemore sliding up next to Lydia and surveying the crowd.

His eyes stopped at Stiles. “What is he doing here?”

“You know him?” Allison asked.

“I went to college with him in California. He’s been trying to steal MetaMorph.”

“Okay, one,” Stiles said. “It’s called ShapeShift. And two, it’s my game and you’re the one who stole it from me.” He turned to Danny. “You have to believe me. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you since I got here but it just never came out right.”

“Wait,” Lydia spoke up. “If you were here about your software, why did you apply for the IT job?”

“I _didn’t_ apply. I told you the first day. I just wanted to talk but you needed someone to help and-“

“So that’s why you started helping me?” Danny said. “To get on my good side so I would call my client a liar and give the game to you?”

“No, it was nothing like that. I just wanted to me your friend.”

“You’ve been using me,” Danny sighed with the realization. “The whole time.”

“I haven’t. Danny, please, you have to trust me.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m telling the truth! For once in this crazy mixed up accident of coming to New York City, I really am trying to explain the truth.”

“What is there to explain? You’ve been lying to all of us this entire time.”

“Danny just listen-“

“Get out of my office.”

“Please don’t-“

“Stiles!” Lydia grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the desk. “You should leave now.”

Stiles looked at Danny whose head had fallen into his hands.

“I’m sorry,” he said and left.

-

Stiles thought about calling his dad, but what good would that do? He already knew what he had to do and he didn’t need his father berating him or comforting him or whatever he thought was appropriate for this situation. What he needed was to show the world that Jackson was a liar and a thief.

He went back to the Snowball building just after sunset when everyone except the janitors and security would be gone. He waved at Boyd to let him in.

Boyd opened the door. “Forgot your keys again Stiles?”

Stiles shrugged. “It’s becoming a habit.” And patted Boyd’s back as he walked in.

He needed to do this fast, lost keys only took so long to find, but luckily he had a plan.

He hadn’t known Allison personally, but he knew her position in the company was high enough that she had access to the cameras watching the hall leading to the server MetaMorph was on. Stiles just needed to get into her office and he could set the footage to loop for the time he needed to get in and out. The hard part would be getting in there.

Stiles slipped on gloves and grabbed the handle, reaching for his lock picking tools, before he realized it was open. He glanced inside. Everything was turned off and looked untouched. She must’ve forgotten to lock it after the whirlwind that went down that afternoon.

“Maybe this will be easier than I thought.”

Ten minutes later Stiles stumbled down the stairs to the lobby.

“Bathroom Boyd! I look everywhere twice and I find my keys in the damn bathroom. I swear I’m getting dumber every day.”

“Can’t dispute that.” Boyd said wryly as Stiles waved, walking out the door.

-

The press conference was very well attended and more than one of the reporters were broadcasting live. Danny tried to focus on how well this game was going to sell, on how many conventions they would be invited to, on his job, rather than how betrayed he felt.

Allison nodded it was time to start and Danny put on his camera smile and stepped up to the podium.

“Hello. I’d like to thank all of you for coming. I believe our new game, MetaMorph, will revolutionize gaming as we know it today. I would like to introduce you all to the creator himself, Mr. Jackson Whittemore.”

The crowd clapped politely as Jackson took the stage.

“Thank you ladies and gentlemen. This game is very complicated and works on so many levels, all of which I know you will be excited about. I believe it would be better if I just let it speak for itself. Welcome to the future.”

Jackson pressed a button on the computer and it started projecting the game preview just like they’d seen in rehearsal.

An animated snowball flew toward the audience, hitting the imaginary fourth wall and melting to spell out HAIL.

It faded to show the family of actors they’d hired, each stepping up to their TV and being scanned, and showing their cartoon counterparts.

That was when it went off script.

Suddenly there was a picture of Danny on the screen and a cartoon designed to look like him popped up next to it. Only, the picture wasn’t recent. It was from when he was in college. The Danny cartoon went through the motions of showing how they realistically jump and walk and the real Danny pulled Jackson close.

“What is this?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing. I haven’t changed anything since we set this up.”

“Well stop it and get it back to how it’s supposed to be.”

Jackson stepped back up to the computer on the pedestal and pressed a few buttons. “It’s not working.” Jackson spoke quiet so the cameras couldn’t pick him up. “I’m doing the same thing that always pauses it but it’s not stopping.”

“Figure out a new way then! This is your game. You should be able to bypass any changes.”

“There shouldn’t have been any changes. I left in with your security.”

“I know and I’m sorry and we will figure out what happened after this press conference. Now can you fix it or not?”

Jackson sighed. “I don’t know. I’m trying.”

Danny groaned softly and looked at the screen. The cartoon Danny was now walking across a bridge over a lake. Real Danny blinked and looked over the scene. It almost looked like…

Just then, cartoon Danny went to jump on top of the railing of the bridge and fell off, into the water. The audience ooh-ed at the realistic splash but Danny’s heart was pounding. If Jackson didn’t put this into the game, then who…

Another cartoon ran in, back to the audience, and dove into the water, pulling Danny out. The two cartoons were soaked and the reporters talked amongst themselves but Danny could only focus on the man who’d pulled him out.

It was Stiles.

Well, it was Stiles’ face on a cartoon but nonetheless.

As the preview faded to the start screen, the audience applauded and Danny snapped out of his daze.

“Move,” he said, pushing Jackson away from the pedestal. “I’m sorry ladies and gentlemen. I’m afraid it has just come to my attention that there has been a huge mistake. This game was not created by Jackson Whittemore.”

It all made sense didn’t it? Now that he thought about it all the dots connected; that first day when Stiles started talking software in his office, how he never stopped sounding excited about it, and how every time Danny brought up the technical side of the game to Jackson he would distract him with compliments. Danny couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to do the one thing he thought he’d never do: allow his personal feelings to cloud his judgment in business.

“What?” Jackson shouted. “What are you saying? This is my game!”

“Be quiet Mr. Whittemore.” Danny said, not even glancing at him. “I would like to apologize to everyone in the room today. It was my fault I did not see it sooner.”

“You’re crazy, Danny. Look at me when I’m talking to you.” Jackson reached for Danny’s arm but Allison grabbed his wrist quickly.

“Security,” she said. “Can you please restrain Mr. Whittemore while Mr. Mahaelani talks?”

Two security guards came up to hold Jackson back and the audience went from a low murmur of gossip to shouting questions.

“Please, please.” Danny said into the microphone. “I would like to announce that the real creator of this game is Mr. Stiles…” Danny paused and looked over at Allison. “Do you know what Stiles’ last name is?”

“Stilinski!” A voice from the audience yelled. Danny turned and saw Stiles walking down to the stage and a large grin blossomed on his face.

“Wait,” Danny said as Stiles walked onto the stage. “Your name is _Stiles Stilinski_?”

“Stiles is more of a stage name.”

“Of course.” Danny turned to the microphone again. “Ladies and gentlemen, Stiles Stilinski, the original creator of MetaMorph.”

Over the applause Stiles shouted, “It’s called ShapeShift!”

-

Everything was falling into place.

Jackson never spent any of the money he was given as an advance, so Stiles was satisfied with him returning the money and paying for Stiles hotel stay. Stiles also requested that Jackson be handed with a little community service, if only to see the rich boy squirm.

Stiles was given the same deal as well as a twenty percent partnership in the profits. To say his dad was excited to hear that would be a huge understatement.

Lydia managed to scare some other poor sap into being IT in his place once she realized he was highly overqualified. And this time she made sure to double check it was the right person she was harassing.

It was a lot of fun and a lot of profit. More than he ever dreamed of getting when he set out on this crazy mission. Now he was in his hotel room packing up and wishing he could feel so happy and content forever.

A knock came at the door.

Stiles looked at the clock. It was way too late for it to be housekeeping and anyone in the office had his number. He couldn’t have gotten stalkers already could he? The game would just be hitting stores today.

He opened it to find Danny looking sheepish with his hands behind his back and his head slightly bowed.

“Hi.” Stiles said, shocked.

“Hey,” Danny said. “It’s been a crazy few weeks, hasn’t it? We haven’t really had a chance to talk about anything other than business.”

“It’s fine. I know you’re busy with everything that went down with Jackson.”

“It’s just we never finished with my computer.”

“We were pretty far along. I know you can figure it out yourself. You can do anything. You don’t need me.”

“Also you need to get back to the company to work.”

“I’m pretty sure Lydia already replaced me.”

“We could find something else for you.”

Stiles looked at the change in Danny’s face. Danny wasn’t pleading but he still looked hesitantly hopeful.

“Sorry,” he said, opening the door wider. “Did you want to come in?”

Danny blinked as if he too had forgotten they were in the doorway. “Yeah, sure I just-“ Danny didn’t move forward, though it looked like he wanted to. “That night when we went to the club and you got distracted by that apple store, you said you loved three things. I don’t really believe curly fries was the third.”

Stiles blushed and gave a nervous laugh. “No? Yeah actually it’s uhh… it’s video games.”

“Really?” Danny gave a disbelieving look. “Because I was kind of hoping it was this.”

Danny finally moved his hands from behind his back showing he was holding a pair of kiddie floaties.

Stiles gasped. “You saw?”

Danny nodded. “I found them outside my room when my dad left. I asked around my dorm but no one knew who you were. Thanks by the way.”

“Anytime.”

Danny stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

“So, I was hoping you could stay in New York, work with Snowball, and maybe we could go on a date?”

Stiles breath whooshed out of him. “W-we? Us? You and me?”

Danny shrugged. “I mean we’ve gone out a few times before. We’ve kind of got the practice down so we should try for the real thing.”

“I-yeah. Yes! We should.” Stiles nodded furiously.

“Except…”

“Except? What except?”

“There’s one thing we haven’t practiced yet.” Danny said, smirking, and leaned forward to press his mouth against Stiles’.

Stiles had thought kissing Danny would be great.

Danny was strong but gentle and he would kiss just like that. Softness and hard, all blending together so fireworks shot behind Stiles’ eyes. This would be the fairy tale moment where his Prince Charming would bring back to life Stiles’ worth as a person, right?

Wrong.

Not entirely wrong, really. Danny was soft in his hard press and there were definite shivers down his spine but it was different. Better. It was so much better because Stiles had already become his own person. He had already had his happy ending and he helped Danny just as Danny helped him. They were their own people. Neither of them were prince charming or maybe they both were but the point was everyone had already been saved. Now was the time where Stiles and Danny were kissing and being nothing more than two people falling in love.

For the past couple of months, somewhere in the back of his mind, Stiles’ had still been holding on to the fantasy of Danny despite the real thing being right in front of him. The real Danny was annoyingly organized and sarcastic and sometimes he got frustrated. He didn't always hang off Stiles' every word and he kept secrets.

Some small part of Stiles had kept this idealized perfect star in his mind… until then. Until the moment he saw Danny with his head down, nervous, holding out a floatie as show of appreciation.

When their lips came together, Stiles’ idea of Danny finally shifted.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the Archer here. I'd like to thank Quintenttsy for helping me brainstorm this idea and being very supportive. This fic was based on the Bollywood film Pyaar Impossible and I hope it was as fun to read/listen to as it was to write.
> 
> quintenttsy here! TheArcher was great to work with, even when I was terrible at communicating properly, and wrote me such a lovely, adorable fic. I really hope you enjoy it (and the podfic :D).


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